Suneel Kamlani, co-chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland's markets business, and John Owen, who runs the international banking unit, are to leave the UK bank, according to a memo sent to staff by group chief executive Ross McEwan.

Suneel Kamlani

McEwan today announced a wide-ranging restructuring, alongside RBS' full-year results, that will include rehousing its markets, international banking and UK corporate banking operations in a single division under the leadership of the former head of its Asia business, Donald Workman, who becomes executive chairman.

A spokeswoman for RBS confirmed that staff were notified in a memo from McEwan that Kamlani and Owen had taken the decision to leave in the coming months.

The spokeswoman said that in the memo McEwan cited the pair's "enormous contribution" to the progress made by the bank in reshaping its markets and international banking businesses in recent years.

Peter Nielsen, Kamlani's co-head of markets, is set to remain at the bank, working with Workman in the new set-up. Workman was most recently executive chairman of the bank's Asia Pacific business, a role that he had held since last May in which he reported to Owen, Kamlani and Nielsen, according to an RBS statement at the time of his appointment.

A year ago, RBS named Nielsen, who had run the markets business, and Kamlani, previously deputy chief executive of markets and international banking, as co-heads of markets, while Owen kept his role as head of international banking.

Following news that John Hourican was to step down as markets and international banking chief executive and leave the bank in the wake of the Libor-rigging scandal, the trio reported directly to then-group chief executive Stephen Hester from the start of March last year and then to his successor as group CEO, McEwan.

RBS could not confirm this morning whether Workman will move to the UK to take up his new role, nor who will run the Asia business.